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- Movie Review - The X-Files: I Want To Believe
Movie Review - The X-Files: I Want To Believe
- By Aubrey Ward III
- Published 07/27/2008
- X-Files
-
Rating:
Aubrey Ward III
A gifted and talented soul that was fortunate to be shaped and molded in the fires of 80s pop culture. I now spend my free time reading comic books, playing video games, and watching all kinds of movies while impatiently waiting for She-Ra's big comeback.
View all articles by Aubrey Ward III
Mulder & Scully are back on the case in their second big screen adventure. Yes, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson reprise their legendary roles in the hopes of recapturing old fans and bringing aboard some new ones. Do they succeed?
Well, the story is actually decent. "I Want To Believe" returns to one of the aspects that made the show so addictive in the first place: creepy offenders. An FBI agent is kidnapped by some mysterious gentlemen. We're not sure what these guys are up to (until the end, of course) but the evidence of severed limbs, organ transplants and animal tranquilizers reek of "X-File". The abduction also serves as the perfect opportunity to bring Mulder back to the loving arms of the FBI family.
Agent Whitney (Amanda Peet) is using a psychic priest (Billy Connolly) and she suggests bringing in Mulder who has had some experience with seers and fortune tellers. Though Agent Whitney knows this action will make her extremely unpopular at headquarters she is determined to use any resource to save her fellow agent's life. And so the hunt begins for the abducted woman and her kidnappers.
The other side of the plot (and for me the most intriguing) involved Scully. We learn that she also retired from the force and has settled down as a doctor in a church run hospital. Scully has a patient with a rare disease that she wants to try and cure while everyone else wants to put him in a hospice so he can die in peace. So this predicament plus Mulder trying to pull her in on the kidnapping case equals some really juicy drama for Anderson to sink her teeth into.
I know we're all supposed to be psyched that Duchovny is back as Fox Mulder, that crazy kook of an agent who made believers out of all of us back in the 90's. In my book, Gillian Anderson outshines her co-star just a bit. A great example is when Scully confronts the psychic priest about something he said to her. She's already detesting the guy because of his shady past and because he might be a fraud. This confrontation is fueled with a dramatic electricity that I sure wasn't expecting in an X-Files movie. A very pleasant surprise.
However, I must say that when I saw Mulder & Scully back together I smiled. It really was like reuniting with old friends but after many years. They have some of the old habits but have also grown and changed over the years. Duchovny and Anderson play it smart by not rehashing or imitating what they did back on the show. They took their characters, aged them, and presented it onscreen like a succulent Thanksgiving turkey.
Overall, "X-Files 2" is a lot better than I though it was going to be. The story is good but Duchovny and Anderson are the real price of admission with their dazzling performances. I believe that all involved really fought hard to recapture the mystery, tension and creepiness that X-Files is known for. This was not just some event staged for a paycheck.
The movie is definitely one of the quieter entries for the blockbuster season so if you're looking for a break from the special effect extravaganzas or something leaning a tad more on the cerebral side then give "X-Files" a try. You might just leave the theater a believer.
Well, the story is actually decent. "I Want To Believe" returns to one of the aspects that made the show so addictive in the first place: creepy offenders. An FBI agent is kidnapped by some mysterious gentlemen. We're not sure what these guys are up to (until the end, of course) but the evidence of severed limbs, organ transplants and animal tranquilizers reek of "X-File". The abduction also serves as the perfect opportunity to bring Mulder back to the loving arms of the FBI family.
Agent Whitney (Amanda Peet) is using a psychic priest (Billy Connolly) and she suggests bringing in Mulder who has had some experience with seers and fortune tellers. Though Agent Whitney knows this action will make her extremely unpopular at headquarters she is determined to use any resource to save her fellow agent's life. And so the hunt begins for the abducted woman and her kidnappers.
The other side of the plot (and for me the most intriguing) involved Scully. We learn that she also retired from the force and has settled down as a doctor in a church run hospital. Scully has a patient with a rare disease that she wants to try and cure while everyone else wants to put him in a hospice so he can die in peace. So this predicament plus Mulder trying to pull her in on the kidnapping case equals some really juicy drama for Anderson to sink her teeth into.
I know we're all supposed to be psyched that Duchovny is back as Fox Mulder, that crazy kook of an agent who made believers out of all of us back in the 90's. In my book, Gillian Anderson outshines her co-star just a bit. A great example is when Scully confronts the psychic priest about something he said to her. She's already detesting the guy because of his shady past and because he might be a fraud. This confrontation is fueled with a dramatic electricity that I sure wasn't expecting in an X-Files movie. A very pleasant surprise.
However, I must say that when I saw Mulder & Scully back together I smiled. It really was like reuniting with old friends but after many years. They have some of the old habits but have also grown and changed over the years. Duchovny and Anderson play it smart by not rehashing or imitating what they did back on the show. They took their characters, aged them, and presented it onscreen like a succulent Thanksgiving turkey.
Overall, "X-Files 2" is a lot better than I though it was going to be. The story is good but Duchovny and Anderson are the real price of admission with their dazzling performances. I believe that all involved really fought hard to recapture the mystery, tension and creepiness that X-Files is known for. This was not just some event staged for a paycheck.
The movie is definitely one of the quieter entries for the blockbuster season so if you're looking for a break from the special effect extravaganzas or something leaning a tad more on the cerebral side then give "X-Files" a try. You might just leave the theater a believer.
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Comments
Comment #1 (Posted by Tracy Morris)
Rating:
Good review. I thought the movie would have made an average X-Files Episode. I felt that the movie should have given us something more though. I thought that the motives of the bad guys were a little murky. Organ harvesting? continuing risky research? Saving a homosexual lover from cancer? Making the gay lover a girl by transplanting the head? Shouldn't the serial killer be looking for a male transplant body for his boyfriend? Organ harvesting? Or did the sick/wounded lover become sick/wounded when he tried to capture the FBI Agent?
I thought it was nice to see Mitch Pileggi as Skinner and Nicki Aycox from Supernatural again.
Good review.
Comment #2 (Posted by jen)
Rating:
nice review. i think IWTB is getting a terrible rap-- it's almost a great movie-- but more of a RELATIONSHIP drama then anything else. sadly, i think people are missing the point. i'd recommend it to everyone. i've seen it twice and it gets better the second time.